PITTSBURGH: The Pittsburgh Chapter of the International Women’s Forum (IWF), a global organization comprised of more than 6,500 dynamic women leaders in thirty-five countries and seventy-six forums around the world, has provided financial funding to help support the 2017 Elsie Hillman Chair in Women and Politics event. The gift was made in honor of Elsie Hillman, who passed away in 2015.

Housed at Chatham’s 338-acre Eden Hall Campus, the Falk School is the world’s first academic community built expressly for the study of sustainable living, learning and development.

Thanks to the “two-plus-two” agreement between the two institutions, ACM students who graduate with an associate degree in biology can transfer seamlessly into Chatham’s bachelor’s program in sustainability.

PITTSBURGH: Chatham University announced that it has earned recognition as a Colleges of Distinction for its innovative application of high impact educational practices.

Schools must demonstrate results across the Four Distinctions—Engaged Students, Great Teaching, Vibrant Community, and Successful Outcomes. High school counselors and educators make nominations, and each school is evaluated on key indicators including student engagement, student empowerment, and curricular innovation. Colleges that have distinguished themselves in each of the Four Distinctions and that have demonstrated dedication to enriching student outcomes through innovative learning opportunities are then invited to join Colleges of Distinction.

PITTSBURGH: Mark Nieson, associate professor in the MFA Creative Writing program recently published a memoir, Schoolhouse: Lessons on Love & Landscape, which concerns the search for where identity, place, and heart intersect. The memoir opens with its Brooklyn-born narrator standing on his head outside an old one-room schoolhouse amid 500 acres of remote woodlands in Iowa, his new home. Why this Walden-like retreat? Is it to attend the renowned Iowa Writers’ Workshop, or is he actually on the lam from love?

Nieson will be giving a number of readings in the Pittsburgh area this fall, including one on the Chatham’s Shadyside campus on November 9 at 8 p.m. along with Jenny Ashburn, Alison Taverna & Dakota Garilli, three recent MFA graduates who also have books/chapbooks coming out.

Thursday, November 10, 5:30-7:45 PM
The opening reception and a post-election analysis panel from the Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics (PCWP)

Friday, November 11, 7:30 AM to 10:00 AM
An entrepreneurship breakfast with Small Business Administration District Director Kelly Hunt and Filmmaker JulieHera DeStefano, hosted by the Center for Women’s Entrepreneurship (Center) and its Chatham’s Women’s Business Center (CWBC)

Pittsburgh: Chatham University has achieved second place in Master’s Institutions’ Overall Top Performers category in the 2016 Sustainable Campus Index, a publication by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). Chatham earned the second highest gold level rating with an overall STARS score of 75.8, with only one university earning the highest platinum level rating. Chatham also tied for first place in the Grounds category, which highlights achievement in campus land management and biodiversity of campus grounds and surrounding lands.

STARS is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance developed by AASHE. With nearly 800 participating institutions, STARS is the leading tool for measuring higher education sustainability performance. 124 reports were submitted in the most recent calendar year, resulting in an 11 percent increase over the previous year and a third consecutive year of growth.

PITTSBURGH: The Falk School of Sustainability & Environment will host a broad range of speakers during the 2016 Fall Semester. All events will take place at 2 p.m. at the Esther Barazzone Center on the Eden Hall campus in Richland, PA. Events include:

October 28
“The Budding Aromas from Taco Trucks: Taste and Space in Austin, Texas” will feature Robert D. Lemon, MCRP, MLArch, PhD, department of geography University of Texas, Austin on October 28. Lemon is a visiting professor for Human Geography at the Institute of Geography and the Heidelberg Center for American Studies at Heidelberg University. He is a cultural and urban geographer with a passion for landscape studies. As an urban geographer and environmental designer, he has studied extensively the social practices and built transformations of cities through their aesthetic representation.

Ms. Walker will speak on a panel following the screening in the Campbell Memorial Chapel on Chatham University’s Shadyside campus at 6:30 p.m. Overflow seating is in the Eddy Theater. The event is free and open to the public with registration at www.justfilmspgh.org.

Lead support for this event is generously provided by Eden Hall Foundation.

PITTSBURGH: Chatham University has been selected as one of only 21 universities around the country for the Princeton Review’s Green Honor Roll, which recognizes the most environmentally responsible colleges across the United States. Chatham earned a perfect Green Rating score 99 out of 99, which measures “a school’s performance as an environmentally aware and prepared institution”.

Chatham University is also profiled in Princeton Review’s free downloadable book, “The Princeton Review’s Guide to 353 Green Colleges“, which profiles institutions of higher education that demonstrate notable commitments to sustainability in their academic offerings, campus infrastructure, activities, and career preparation.

As part of the series, one film a month will be shown on Chatham University’s Shadyside campus from September 2016 through June 2017. Films will be free and open to the public. Visit the Just Films website for the schedule and list of films.

Join us on October 27th, for the next film in the series: Yemanjá: Wisdom from the African Heart of Brazil. The film is narrated by Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Color Purple, who will be our special guest panelist following the Pittsburgh premiere.